Download What is Behavior?

What is Behavior?
What is ethology?
The foundations of behavioral
ecology were established by:
•
•
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von Frisch
Lorenz
Tinbergen
•Behavioral ecologists
distinguish between
proximate and ultimate causes
of behavior.
Proximate –
Ultimate -
Classic Demonstration of Innate
Behavior
Fixed Action Pattern (FAP):
A sequence of unlearned
behavioral acts that is essentially unchangeable and, once
initiated usually carried to
completion. This is triggered
by an external sensory stimulus known as a sign stimulus.
Geese Imprinting
Imprinting – a type of behavior
that includes both learning
and innate components and
is generally irreversible.
• has a sensitive period
Imprinting: Konrad Lorenz with
imprinted geese
•Many behaviors have a strong
genetic component.
Kinesis
Taxis
Kinesis – does not result in
orientation with respect to
a stimulus; movement
is random (defined in Lab 11)
Taxis – a more or less automatic oriented movement
toward or away from a stimulus
Migration Routes of the Golden Plover
Orientation Versus Navigation in Juvenile and
Adult Starlings
Signals and
Communication
• Nocturnal animals use
auditory and chemical
signals
• Diurnal animals use visual
and auditory signals
• What are pheromones?
Staking Out Territory With Chemical Markers
Genetic Influences on
Mating
• Seen with prairie voles
• Male prairie voles help
to care for the young
which is unusual since
few mammals are
monogamous
•Environment, along with
genetic makeup, influences
the development of behaviors
Ex: The diet of the larvae of
Drosophila influences mate
choice later in life
Learning
• What is the difference
between instinctive
behavior and learned
behavior?
Habituation
• Loss of responsiveness to stimuli
that convey little information
• ex: you continually drive over the
speed limit on the freeway and
never get a ticket; therefore there is
no reason to change your driving
habits.
Tinbergen’s experiments on the digger wasp’s nest-locating
behavior
Other ways in which
behavior is influenced:
•Associative Learning
•Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
(Trial and Error Learning)
Two Kinds of Bird-Song Development: The Songs
of Most Bird Species Are at Least Partly Learned
Cognitive Ethology – young chimps
learning to crack oil palm nuts
“Fishing” by a Chimpanzee
Female warblers prefer males with
large song repertoires
•Behavioral traits can
evolve by natural selection.
Feeding by Young Bluegill Sunfish
Supporting Optimal Foraging Theory
Mating Behavior
• Promiscuous
• Monogamous
• Polygamous
–Polyandrous – single female
with several males
–Polygynous – single male with
several females
Sexual Selection – a form
of natural selection in which
differences in reproductive
success among individuals
are a consequence of
differences in mating success;
proposed by Charles Darwin
Trumpeter
Swans
Elk
Phalaropes
Peahen
Female Cardinal
Peacock
Male Cardinal
Golden Silk
Spiders
in Costa
Rica
Male and Female Black Lemurs
Terrapins
Large body
size in males
Sexual Selection
I
Females
choose males based
n
on certain traits – she is
directing
natural selection
D
a
Territoriality: Mountain Goats and
Stallions
Agonistic Behavior
• Contest that involves
threatening and submissive
behavior to gain access to a
resource (food or mate)
• What is the evolutionary
importance of agonistic
behavior?
Agnostic Behavior
Ritual Wrestling by Rattlesnakes
Inclusive Fitness
• What is altruism?
Reduced fitness of self to
increase fitness of others
•How does altruism relate to
evolution?
•Leads to kin selection and
coefficient of relatedness
Kin Selection and Altruism in the Belding Ground
Squirrel-Females stay closer to the burrows
Altruistic Behavior in the Belding Ground Squirrel
When
rB > C, natural
selection favors
altruism
B is benefit
r is coefficient
of relatedness
C is cost
Vervet Monkeys Learn Correct Use of Alarm Calls